Joe Wright to direct 'Indian Summer'
Universal, Working Title behind colonial drama
Source: Variety
LONDON -- "The Soloist" helmer Joe Wright will next direct "Indian Summer" for Working Title and Universal.
Project is based on the book of the same name by Alex von Tunzelmann about the last days of Britain's colonial rule in India and the symbolic end of Blighty's status as a world superpower.
William Nicholson ("Gladiator") is penning the screenplay. Working Title co-toppers Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will produce alongside Hilary Bevan Jones ("The Boat That Rocked").
Lensing is set to begin early next year on location in India. No cast has been set.
Pic will follow the fateful events as Britain's Lord Mountbatten, with glamorous wife Edwina in tow, is sent to oversee the handover of power in the summer of 1947 to Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.
"After making 'The Soloist' in L.A., I was looking for something that was primarily about the British experience," Wright told Daily Variety.
"Indian Summer" will mark Wright's fourth collaboration with Working Title and will be the first project the helmer will direct under a two-picture deal inked last year with the Brit production powerhouse and Universal.
Wright previously made his debut "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement" for the shingle. "The Soloist," which opens in the U.S. on April 24, is a Working Title co-production with DreamWorks.
Awesome. I know nothing about the book, but I think Joe Wright is a really interesting director. I loved what he did with 'Atonement,' and eagerly looking forward to 'The Soloist.' I like the fact that he's staying true to his British roots, and exploring aspects of British society and history, from a very British perspective. Depending on when this is released, it could be an interesting accompaniment to Clint Eastwood's 'The Human Factor,' as far as an examination of white colonization and racial prejudices. I'm excited. Add 'Indian Summer' to my must-read list.
NOT a remake of this:
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Just read the description of the book on Amazon. All I can think is just how inefficient a film Slumdog Millionaire was in depicting any of the realism of India. All it was was whipping cameras and shit. THIS is going to be awesome.
The transfer of power from the British Empire to the new nations of India and Pakistan in the summer of 1947 was one of history's great, and tragic, epics: 400 million people won independence, and perhaps as many as one million died in sectarian violence among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. In her scintillating debut, British author von Tunzelmann keeps one eye on the big picture, but foregrounds the personalities and relationships of the main political leaders—larger-than-life figures whom she cuts down to size. She portrays Gandhi as both awe inspiring and, with his antisex campaigns and inflexible moralism, an exasperating eccentric. British viceroy Louis Dickie Mountbatten comes off as a clumsy diplomat dithering over flag designs while his partition plan teetered on the brink of disaster. Meanwhile, his glamorous, omnicompetent wife, Edwina, looks after refugees and carries on an affair with the handsome, stalwart Indian statesman Nehru. Von Tunzelmann's wit is cruel—Gandhi... wanted to spread the blessings of poverty and humility to all people—but fair in its depictions of complex, often charismatic people with feet of clay. The result is compelling narrative history, combining dramatic sweep with dishy detail.
Joe Wright in talks to direct assassin girl 'Hanna'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
"Atonement" helmer Joe Wright is in talks to direct Focus Features' action-adventure thriller "Hanna." Marty Adelstein and Scott Nemes are producing.
The project has garnered considerable attention in director circles since getting set up at Focus in 2007, with Danny Boyle kicking its tires as a directing vehicle at one point and Alfonso Cuaron circling it in recent weeks.
The project is described as having shades of "La Femme Nikita" and the "Bourne" movies. The story centers on a 14-year-old Eastern European girl who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father's world and discovers that she was bred as a killing machine in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life.
Seth Lochhead and David Farr worked on the script.
Wright was due to direct period love story "Indian Summer," starring Cate Blanchett, for Working Title and Universal. But as the project's budget rose, and with the conditions for upscale adult dramas not favorable, the makers opted to put the project on hold.
"Hanna" would mark CAA-repped Wright's first foray into the action realm after making such dramas as "Atonement," "The Soloist" and "Pride & Prejudice."
Saoirse Ronan to play teenage assassin 'Hanna'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Saoirse Ronan is in negotiations to reteam with her "Atonement" director Joe Wright to star as the title character in "Hanna," Focus' tale of a teenage assassin.
"Hanna" is described as having shades of "La Femme Nikita" and the "Bourne" movies.
The story follows a 14-year-old Eastern European girl (Ronan) who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father's world and discovers that she was bred as a killing machine in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life.
Leslie Holleran, Marty Adelstein and Scott Nemes are producing.
Seth Lochhead and David Farr worked on the script.
Ronan, repped by CAA and Talent Management Group, stars in Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones."
Quote from: MacGuffin on January 06, 2010, 09:20:16 PM
"Hanna" is described as having shades of "La Femme Nikita" and the "Bourne" movies.
Yes, please.
That makes me think of Alias, but younger and European. I seem to remember a plotline in Alias where Sydney remembers through hypnosis that her dad trained her to be a super spy.
Yeah I don't know why but I kinda love this idea/casting/director.
Despite The Soloist being so boring, Joe Wright is definitely a guy who knows where to point the camera. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt 9 out of 10 times (the 10th being The Soloist).
Everything Joe Wright has done so far has been tedious, well produced Lifetime movies. His technical competency doesn't cover up the fact that he's fucking boring.
This seems interesting, though. Both in premise and casting. Despite a few nice shots, the only tolerable thing about Atonement was Saoirse Ronan.
He makes very proper movies.
he's a step below that; ron howard's at least engaging with good stories.
Proper dog finds Joe Wright's films emotionally taut and entertainingly thought provoking.
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I like Joe Wright. No comment on Soloist and Pride and Prejudice does all that it can with the novel, but Atonement still continues to stir my imagination. He may have been just lifting themes out of a novel, but I respect it more and more because it was publicized to satisfy on the level of Pride and Prejudice but it takes fascinating left turns everywhere. 6 months ago I was struck when I had to explain my take on the film to someone and I kept comparing it to Full Metal Jacket, but the structural intricacies do warrant the comparison. The structure of Full Metal Jacket is its best feature, but Atonement goes further and touches on more things. I need to revisit it yet again because I remember respecting it on first viewing, but lukewarm period films since have definitely propelled it in my mind.
His Pride and Prejudice is a really astounding piece of pop cinema. It simply hits every right note, and he's the first director to actually find a real film in a Jane Austen novel. Every prior attempt seems like actors playing dress-up in the garden by comparison. And I don't think there's anything proper or tedious about the thing.
I still really wanna see that, but I completely disagree with GT and I think Atonement fails as a movie on very basic levels. I do like the first half but the second half is completely empty, as each scene he begins with heavy exposition and tries to end with overwrought emotions. it completely kills the momentum, skips the climax, and goes right to the coda, which incidentally, is more exposition.
I haven't seen the soloist, and frankly I'm not too interested. But Atonement and Pride were not boring, he actually managed to make the "period" film exciting again and he helped Keira proves she can act.
Quote from: pete on January 08, 2010, 04:43:08 AM
I still really wanna see that, but I completely disagree with GT and I think Atonement fails as a movie on very basic levels. I do like the first half but the second half is completely empty, as each scene he begins with heavy exposition and tries to end with overwrought emotions. it completely kills the momentum, skips the climax, and goes right to the coda, which incidentally, is more exposition.
Well, yes, but the second half is purposely everything you say it is. In the first half, the movie is Briony's real memories so it draws on her memories with heavy details and explicit scenes that are poetic and avvoid the trappings of any recognizable cliche. Then when the story transitions into all the character's later lives and Briony personally knows that tragedy just befalls the two main characters in no heroic or redeemable way, she creates a fictional account to make their plight look more endearing. Things Briony has done has led them to their ends so she feels responsible to create a better ending for them in any way that she can so she writes a new account of their passing, with the purpose of doing so to try to give their second lives (the one after death, for the greater public) a better ending, but since it is not the truth and artificial, it keeps Briony herself from ever being happy and being able to wash the feelings of guilt away. It also leaves the reader of her book (or audience, in this case) unfufilled because we can tell it is artificial.
But the film just doesn't end on her artificial story. It ends with an interview of Briony done in real time late into her life. She's able to draw back on memories and reflect on her decision making through everything she has done (in life and art) so the film ends by fully coming back to Briony herself, which allows the audience to reflect on both parts of the story. It keeps the second half in context because it doesn't make it the full payoff. The similarity to Full Metal Jacket is that film begins with a rough bootcamp scenario and transitions to Vietnam with expectation that things will just get rougher, but all Joker finds is his sense of boredom in Vietnam because he's not in the thick of infantry fire. He still believes he has the killer instinct because he survived boot camp, but when he can barely handle a lone sniper later on, he finds out that boot camp did very little to prepare him for anything, but the point of his Vietnam experience being watered down and not very exciting (thus disappointing audience expectations) is to give comment on the first half of the film. In its own way, Atonement's second half artificiality gives comment to its first half as well.
Eric Bana to play Saoirse Ronan's father in 'Hanna'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Eric Bana is going back to action movie territory.
The actor is in negotiations to star opposite Saoirse Ronan in "Hanna," Focus' tale of a teenage assassin being directed by Joe Wright.
Bana will play Ronan's father in the story of a 14-year-old Eastern European girl saved from a CIA breeding camp and raised by her dad to be a cold-blooded killing machine. After finding peace with a French family, the girl is dragged back to her father's world, and she must fight her way to a free life.
Leslie Holleran, Marty Adelstein and Scott Nemes are producing.
Seth Lochhead and David Farr worked on the script.
WME-repped Bana last appeared in Judd Apatow's dramedy "Funny People" and the romancer "The Time Traveler's Wife." However, the Aussie made his American movie mark in such films as "The Hulk" and sword-and-sandal epic "Troy" and gained his action spy movie cred with "Black Hawk Down" and "Munich."
Uh, he also last appeared in Star Trek. Why are they making it sound like he's taken some hiatus from action movies?
Working Title developing live 'Mermaid'
English-language live-action adaptation with Joe Wright
Source: Hollywood Reporter
LONDON -- Working Title Films is teaming with director Joe Wright to develop a live-action movie version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale "The Little Mermaid."
The script -- for what will be the first English-language live-action adaptation of the tale -- has been penned by Abi Morgan ("Brick Lane") for Working Title and Wright.
It tells the classic tale of a young mermaid who gives up her life in the sea to love a human prince.
Andersen's story was first published in 1837 and has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen. Wright's version is inspired by a children's puppet theatre production of the classic at London's Little Angel Theatre Company, backers said.
Working Title's co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner announced the plans.
The project brings Wright back into the Working Title stable having made his first three movies with them, "Pride & Prejudice," "Atonement" and "The Soloist."
Wright is currently in post-production on the Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana starrer "Hanna" for Focus Features.
Joe Wright To Direct 'Anna Karenina' For Focus With Keira Knightley As Lead
Source: Deadline
It's official: Atonement director Joe Wright and star Keira Knightley are reteaming for Anna Karenina, the Working Title films adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel that was written by Tom Stoppard. The film will be distributed by Focus Features in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International worldwide sometime in the second half of 2012. Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Paul Webster; the trio were 2008 Oscar nominees as producers of Atonement.
Knightley will star as Anna, Jude Law will play her husband Aleksei Karenin, and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) will play Count Vronsky. Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Ruth Wilson also have been cast in the story of a woman making her way in early-19th-century Russian high society. It's familiar territory for Wright, who directed the period adaptations Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, also for Working Title and Focus; he also directed The Soloist for Working Title and UPI and most recently Hanna for Focus.
Focus Features, Playtone Acquire Neil Gaiman's New Novel For Joe Wright To Helm
BY MIKE FLEMING JR | Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: Focus Features and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are closing a deal to acquire the new Neil Gaiman novel The Ocean At The End Of The Lane. Joe Wright is being attached to direct, and his Shoebox Films partner Paul Webster is coming aboard to produce with Hanks and Goetzman. The film will be a co-production between Playtone and Shoebox.
The Ocean At The End of the Lane will be published in June by William Morrow. According to jacket copy, it's about about memory and magic and survival, about the power of stories and the darkness inside each of us. The narrator describes a tale that begins when he was seven and a lodger stole the family's car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and a menace unleashed — within his family, and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. His only defense is three women, on a ramshackle farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.
That sounds promising and hey, it's Gaiman, whose works include American Gods, Sandman, The Graveyard Book, all of which are getting made. He was also behind Coraline, which Focus Features turn into an animated hit.
Wright teamed with Focus Features on his last two films, Anna Karenina and Hanna, and before that Pride & Prejudice.
Playtone is adapting Gaiman's American Gods as a series for HBO, and the production company just won five Emmy Awards for Game Change, and Playtone is currently producing the Peter Landesman-directed feature Parkland.
CAA repped the package.
Neil Gaiman recently announced that Joe Wright is in the process of developing his latest book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, as his next movie.
joe wright is the other marc forester
Joe Wright In Talks To Helm 'Pan' For Warner Bros
BY MIKE FLEMING JR | Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: Joe Wright is negotiating to direct Pan, the Jason Fuchs-scripted take on the Peter Pan myth. This is all just coming together. Greg Berlanti is producing under his Berlanti Productions banner. Sarah Schechter is the executive on the adaptation of the J.M. Barrie classic tale.
An orphan is taken to the magical world of Neverland, where he becomes the savior of the natives and leads a rebellion against the evil pirates. Wright last directed Anna Karenina and before that Hanna and Atonement. He's repped by CAA and Independent Talent Group. Fuchs is repped by WME and Brookside Artist Management.
"Pan", what an incredibly dumb fucking name.
There Will Be Pan
Boy, I hope this doesn't get panned by the critics. Hopefully this falls to the wayside a la Fifty Shades.
Fuck it. Joe Wright directing a full-on fantasy epic? I'm all in. Haters form a line to the left.
Also:
Quote from: Sleepless on November 13, 2013, 01:37:46 PM
Boy, I hope this doesn't get panned by the critics.
I see what you did there.